On Course Foundation conducts programs in 15 markets across America which teach wounded, injured and sick veterans golf skills and golf business skills for careers in the $84 billion annual golf industry.
While the Service men and women who protect our freedoms deserve salutes year-round, May is officially reserved as Military Appreciation Month, so let the storytelling begin.
Perhaps the most inspiring and effective organizations blending golf and the well-being of America’s heroes is On Course Foundation.
Founded in the U.K. in 2010, it expanded to the U.S. in 2014 and hasn’t looked back since.
On Course Foundation conducts programs in 15 markets across America which teach wounded, injured and sick veterans golf skills and golf business skills for careers in the $84 billion annual golf industry.
The organization subsequently places its “members” in jobs with Century Golf, Dormie Network, Golf Pride, Invited, Landscapes Unlimited, Marriott Golf, TaylorMade Golf, Topgolf Callaway Brands, TPC Network and Troon. Marketing, sales, merchandising, food and beverage, product manufacturing, course operations and other positions comprise the range of work experiences with employment partners in 45 states.
For context, more than 2,000 wounded veterans have benefitted from On Course Foundation in the U.S. and Europe.
All this wouldn’t have been possible without sponsorships and grants from Charles Schwab, Apollo Global Management, Barclays, CSX, J.P. Morgan, KPMG and other corporations. They allow On Course Foundation to vastly improves lives which otherwise would have completely spiraled downward.
“The more funds we raise, the more veterans whose health, family, professional and financial lives we dynamically and dramatically improve,” says John Simpson, Founder and CEO of On Course Foundation in a continue-to-step-it-up-corporate-America tone.
You’re reading this correctly: golf is widely considered the ultimate tool for mental and physical recoveries. Even more impressive, most never picked up a club before introduction to the organization.
The healing stories are aplenty. In the essence of time, here are two for today’s Kleenex moment:
Once Homeless
Introduced to golf at the age of eight by his father, a Navy veteran and FBI agent, Jason Leap fell in love with the game. He hit scratch and played on the McNeese State University and Portland State University golf teams.
Following in dad’s military footsteps, Leap became a U.S. Air Force Security Forces airman with deployments to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Korea, Uzbekistan and ultimate dangers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ten years securing transport supplies, our troops and enemy combatants (dead and alive) took its toll on Leap’s physical and mental welfare. A neck and spinal fusion led to an honorable discharge in 2005.
Immediately thereafter, life became a train wreck. Colossal anxieties led to drug and alcohol addiction. His dad died of cancer. He and his wife were homeless. Leap had to pawn his coveted golf clubs. Holding down jobs was arduous. Death from destruction was near.
Miraculously, with family helping to push his recovery, Leap got back on track. On Course Foundation played a critical role, too.
The organization got him loving golf again and sobriety kicked in. Leap’s attitude, as well as sense of purpose, responsibility and faith, returned to rare form. A productive, active life was in store.
Leap volunteered for the North Texas Warrior Golf Association and his game massively improved. He gained confidence to start a career in the golf business. With On Course Foundation’s support, Leap, now approaching 50, landed a position as a security manager at Callaway Golf’s 830,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas.
“On Course Foundation changed my life,” Leap said. “And working with Callaway is a dream job I don’t take for granted. What more could I ask for?”
One Natural Limb
Growing up in a small town in central Washington, Nick Kimmel took to golf, big-time, and shined from tee to green. Joining the military, however, to preserve our national interests took precedent.
Kimmel, now 33, became a member of the United States Marine Corps in 2008 as a combat engineer. The specialty would take him to Okinawa, Japan and then tension-laden Pakistan following the death of Osama bin Laden.
Casualties and tragedies were common, and Kimmel was no exception. In late December 2011, while building a patrol base for the Georgian Army, he jumped on 40-pound IED. Kimmel survived but lost both legs above the knee and his left arm above the elbow.
“Not only was I in terrible pain, but I thought I’d never be able to play golf again,” he says. “How could a triple amputee be even remotely good? I all but gave up.”
Several years later, positivity set in and feeling sorry for himself was cast aside. As serendipity would have it, Kimmel was introduced to On Course Foundation in 2018 by a fellow Marine. It was time to get serious again about golf.
Kimmel started learning how to swing and putt with only one natural, working limb. He played casually and struggled mightily. After all, hitting a ball with a lie below his feet is the epitome of difficult.
Kimmel earnestly set his goal. He practiced religiously to qualify for the U.S. team at the Simpson Cup, On Course Foundation’s pinnacle event that pits America’s wounded veterans against those from the U.K. in Ryder Cup-style matches. Replete with opening and closing ceremonies a la the Ryder Cup and Olympics, the 2022 edition was at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey and this year will be played at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Cub in England.
“I so much wanted to make the team and compete against my fellow veterans. The camaraderie is extraordinary, and we all feel deep military bonds with new friends and old when we’re together at Simpson Cups and between each event.
“Score matters, but the similarities of Service members involved with On Course Foundation help us relate to society and improve our personal, family, professional attitudes and lives,” Kimmel says in speeches to fellow veterans, giving them hope with not a dry eye in the audience.
Kimmel qualified for the Simpson Cup in 2021 and 2022. The accomplishment was aided by a bone implant in the femur that provides decidedly better feel on the course. His amazing 12 handicap is bound to improve.
Now Kimmel is considering a professional career in the golf business. And, of course, On Course Foundation would be on the case.
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